Overstock Seeks to Tokenize Series 1 Shares – tZERO

The online retail giant, Overstock, issued a letter to stockholders this week requesting the ability to tokenize all Series 1 shares utilizing the company's tZERO blockchain platform. tZERO is a subsidiary of Overstock that was developed specifically to handle blockchain services. Swapping to the blockchain system gives investors more flexibility. Also, it allows Overstock to showcase its new platform’s capabilities.

Enhanced Trading Experience

Citing the letter, Overstock officials seek to provide investors with more liquidity in the market. As the security token sector continues expanding, there is a growing call for more liquidity in the space. Security token exchanges provide regulated digital asset investors with an answer to the liquidity issue. These platforms allow investors to trade blockchain assets while remaining compliant. Compliance includes following KYC/AML laws. Also, security token exchanges register with government officials. In these ways, they differ from traditional crypto exchanges.

Speaking on the tZERO project, Overstock's CEO Patrick Byrne praised the progress attained so far. The platform officially launched in January. Byrne described the tZERO blockchain platform as of the “most significant and cutting edge in the world.” He also took a second to relate his excitement surrounding the first round of products becoming publicly available.

Overstock CEO Patrick Byrne via Twitter

tZERO Exchange

tZERO is a leading Fintech firm that offers enterprise-level blockchain solutions for traditional markets. The platform enables streamlined security token trading with full compliance. Today, the company operates one of only a handful of licensed security token exchanges in the US.

As you could imagine, tZERO is considered a major player in the security token space. Notably, the platform has been on the crypto radar ever since the firm secured $134 million in funding during a December 2017 ICO. Since then, the company hosted numerous crowdfunding rounds aimed at select investors.

tZERO incorporates securities regulations directly into its token protocol. This strategy ensures that all security tokens remain compliant throughout their life cycle. Interestingly, the firm announced this month that moving forward, all tokens on the platform will utilize Securitizes Digital Securities (DS) protocol.

A Demonstration with Overstock

It appears that the developers behind the tZERO platform are ready to start trading. Also, it's praiseworthy that the development team decided that tokenizing Overstock shares first was the best move. This strategy boosts confidence in the platform. Also, it enables tZERO to iron out any issues in-house.

Not All Roses

The tZERO platform has not been without its setbacks. In Q4 tZERO showed $12.6 million in pre-tax losses. Consequently, the program saw cutbacks in March that were significant. Despite the losses, tZERO is now active and ready for action.

tZERO Time

As the world of the corporate coins and security tokens is just heating up, tZERO picked an ideal time to enter the market. This platform should capture a significant amount of trading volume amongst these corporate coins as the market expands. For now, investors eagerly await to see the results of the last two years of development.